A Moment of Doubt
by xxZutaraFanxx
Summary: Have you ever had the feeling that you've made the wrong decision.... POST WAR ZUTARA ONESHOT Enjoy... Please please please please read and review!


"There is nothing like waking up to the sound of bird song in the morning"Katara thought to herself as her eyes slowly fluttered open. The sun had just begun to rise illuminating her surroundings in an almost golden sheen. She stretched and turned to her side finding that her partner was no longer there. How anyone could wake up at the crack of dawn each day she would never know. Slowly, Katara sat up and rested against the bedhead whilst looking out towards her open balcony. "No matter how many times I see it, the sunrise is always so beautiful." She said stroking her growing tummy. " Soon you'll be seeing it with me little one" she whispered.

"Good morning." A voice called from the bathroom.

"Morning", she replied. Zuko walked in with a towel around his neck wearing black baggy trousers and drying his jet black hair. Smiling, he came and sat down besides Katara on their bed.

"You're up early." Zuko said playfully.

"I could say the same about you." Katara retorted. Zuko kept on smiling.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked stroking her tummy.

"Better." She replied. "Although..."

"Although what?" Zuko asked concernedly. Katara turned and looked towards the sun, the sky was now completely orange and any traces of night had disappeared completely.

"Katara" Zuko called, bringing her back into reality.

"It's nothing." Katara replied. " I see you're going to train." She said. Zuko eyed her suspiciously but let it pass.

"Yes." He replied. "Unfortunately I have a full day today, meetings with the generals and then another meeting with the Earth Kingdom officials about trade restrictions..."

"It's OK." Katara said placing a finger on his lips silencing him instantly. "You spent the whole day with us yesterday, I think we'll be able to manage on our own." She said grinning. "Will we see you for lunch?" She asked.

"Hmmm, I'm not sure, I will try though." Zuko replied gently moving a lock of hair from Katara's face.

"Well, I better get up." Katara said twisting slowly. "I have a lot to do today." She said sarcastically. Zuko rolled his eyes and got of the bed a lot more gracefully than Katara did. This time it was Katara's turn to roll her eyes. "Show off..." she mumbled. Zuko grinned.

"It's not my fault I'm more athletic that you."

"Hey I have an idea," she said turning to face him while making the bed (she still wasn't use to the idea of servants doing that sort of thing for her, it just seemed lazy.) "Next time why don't you carry the baby and I'll make the bad jokes then we will see who's the most athletic." She said smiling. Zuko walked over to her and kissed her forehead lightly.

"I'll see you later." He said and began walking towards the door.

"Zuko." Katara called. "Don't forget to..."

"I won't." He replied closing the door behind him. Katara sighed and looked down towards her stomach. "I'm huge." She said to herself while walking towards the bathroom. She washed and dressed, surprisingly quickly for a heavily pregnant woman. Afterwards, she walked onto the balcony and looked out towards the hills that were situated to the east of the palace. Again she began to feel uneasy, as if something bad was about to happen. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice a small figure creeping up behind her slowly, getting closer and closer.

"RAAAWWWRRR!!!"

Katara's heart skipped a beat and she jumped breathing heavily. She turned around quickly,

"Kenai!" she said in a high pitched voice.

"I scared you Momma, just like I scared Uncle." Katara looked at her 3 year old son and smiled. Kenai was the spitting image of his father with golden eyes and facial features that matched Zuko's exactly. Nevertheless Katara was in there too. Although his hair was short compared that of his mother, it too was brown and slightly curly and his skin, though closer to his father's colour did have a brown tint to it. Darker than his father, lighter than his mother and the perfect combination of the two. Even a bit of Sokka was there in his playful personality.

Kenai grinned mischievously. Katara raised an eyebrow. "What did you do Kenai?" preparing herself for one of his infamous stories.

"Well, Dad came in to see if I was awake. He came in an whispered, 'Kenai are you awake?'" Katara chuckled at her son's imitation of his father. "But I wasn't awake Momma, I was still sleepy so, when Dad came over, I asked 'Do I have to get up?' and Dad said no and ruffled my hair like this." Kenai ruffled his hair clumsily.

"I see." Katara said holding in her laughter.

"Then Dad left." Kenai continued. "and I tried to get back to sleep but now I REALLY was awake." He said waving his hand dramatically. "So I came out of my room and went to Uncle to see if he wanted to play but when I got to his room he was asleep like this..." Kenai imitated Iroh's snoring perfectly, Katara was slightly impressed. "So I crept up on him quietly like this..." Kenai crept around in a circle "and then when I got really close I went RAAAWWWR!" Kenai said laughing loudly at the pleasant memory. "Uncle woke up and said he thought that a dragon had got into his room!"

"Kenai, that's not very nice." Kenai's face dropped. Katara smiled. "How would you like it if someone all of a sudden scared YOU?" she said scooping Kenai into her arms and twirling him around in a circle. Kenai laughed, what a clever Mommy he had!

"Wow, you've got heavy Kenai." Katara said holding Kenai on her hips. She chuckled to herself. "Now I'm carrying two babies." Kenai looked at her confused, Katara placed him down. "What's the matter Kenai?" he looked at Katara's belly questionably.

"There two babies in there?" he asked pointing innocently.

Katara smiled, "No you silly borecupine." She said ruffling his hair. "You will always be my baby."

"But I'm three!" Kenai exclaimed.

"You will always be my baby no matter what age you are." She replied taking his hand. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast."

"Even when I'm 7?" he asked.

"Yes even then." She replied walking towards the door.

"When I'm 13?" he asked again.

"Yep."

"16?"

"Even then."

"29?"

"Yes Kenai."

"58?"

"Yes even then Kenai..." and they continued this way for a very long time.

***

"Don't fall in Kenai." Katara said from under a tree in the main garden. The healers had decided that it was best for both Katara and the baby if she were to take it slow and relax. She was very heavily pregnant and so recently, she had spent her days resting or watching Kenai. "I hope you're a girl." She whispered to her tummy. Suddenly, Kenai was next to her, slowly sitting down and then finally hitting the ground with a large thump.

"Ouch." He said rubbing his behind. "Does it matter if the grass dirties my clothes Momma?"

"No Kenai it's OK." Katara said wrapping her arm around him. "Are you tired now? You've been playing with the turtleducks for a very long time."

"No, I'm not tired." Kenai replied while yawning, Katara smiled. "Well he's got Zuko stubbornness." She thought to herself

"Momma." Kenai said sleepily while making himself comfortable besides Katara. "What are you going to name my brother when he comes?" Katara turned to face him, surprised at his sudden outburst.

"How do you know it's going to be a boy Kenai? It could be a girl." Katara joked.

"Urgh!" I don't want any more girls. Uncle Sokka already has two girls."

"I thought you liked playing with Yukki and Naoko?" Katara asked.

"I do but....but..."

"But what Kenai," Katara said stroking his hair.

"They're girls Momma!!"

"I'm a girl Kenai." Katara said smirking

"You're not a girl." Kenai said yawning. "You're a Momma, that's different."

"I see." Katara said still stroking his hair. "Sleep you're tired."

"I'm not sleepy." He replied leaning on Katara. Moments later, he was fast asleep.

Katara leaned back against the tree and began to think. The unsettling feelings that she had had before slowly returned only this time amplified. Unconsciously she hugged Kenai tighter. For some reason she felt as if something bad was about to happen. As the cool breeze washed over her again and again she too succumbed to sleep.

Her dreams were no more pleasant than her thoughts while she was awake. This time a feeling of emptiness seemed to consume her, she stood alone and in complete darkness. Something wasn't right. Something was missing.

Eventually, Katara woke up to find Kenai still fast asleep in her arms and her hair pulled back and clipped with a flower. Slowly she stood to her feet (not an easy task for a woman so heavily pregnant) and gently picked up the still sound asleep Kenai. By the orangey blue appearance of the sky, Katara guessed that it was early evening. They had been sleeping for quite a while. When she reached the inside of the palace she placed Kenai in his bed and returned to her own bedroom. Her body was aching due to sitting in one position for such a long time and she was in the mood for a nice relaxing bath. After her bath, she dressed in her nightgown and walked towards the balcony.

Even though they were a few miles from the sea she could still taste the salt in the air. "What an eventful day I've had." She thought to herself sarcastically. Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around her and a head rested on her shoulder.

"That's the second time I've been snuck up on today." She said placing her hands over his. They both stood there in silence for a moment simply looking at the changing composition of the sky.

"I came to get you and Kenai for lunch but found you both asleep so I just let you rest." Zuko said.

"Ah so it was you who put the flower in my hair." Katara said coyly, turning around to face him.

"Who did you think it was?" Zuko asked raising an eyebrow.

"I thought it might have been a certain blue spirit." She said smugly.

"If I didn't know better I would think that there was something going on between you and this spirit." Zuko said grinning.

"Perhaps..." Katara said smiling. She turned around and returned to looking at their surroundings.

"Look who's making bad jokes now." Zuko said smugly which resulted in him getting a nudge in his sides. "Kenai looks like you when he's sleeping." He continued while rubbing his sides.

"Zuko, you know that's not true! Everyone knows that Kenai looks like you." Katara retorted.

"No he really does..."

"It's the hair..." Katara replied.

"Perhaps..." Zuko said copying Katara earlier.

"Are you trying to get on my bad side?" Katara said grinning. A peaceful silence crept over them yet again and the two of them stood there simply enjoying each other's presence. "Zuko, I've been having these feelings." Katara said sheepishly. Zuko turned Katara so that she was now facing him.

"Are you alright? Is it the baby? Do you need a healer?"

"No no no, I'm fine, it's nothing like that.

"Then what is it?"

"Well, it feels as if something bad is going to happen. It's like, right now, I'm standing in this warm bright light that makes me feel happy and alive but then there is this darkness that is slowly creeping over me. Like a silent storm. The strange thing is, it's not the darkness that frightens me, it's the feeling of emptiness that seems to consume me when the darkness takes over the light. It feels as though I'm.... running out of time and at the end or whatever it is I would have lost something that I don't think I'll be able to get back, Do you understand?" Katara said looking at Zuko, hoping that he could comprehend how she was feeling.

Zuko looked at her lovingly. "No I don't." He said smiling. "But I promise you nothing is going to happen. I'm a fire bender remember, darkness doesn't stand a chance!" Katara cringed at his bad joke.

"You really are bad at telling jokes you know." Zuko rolled his eyes and Katara yawned.

"You're tired and it's pretty late. We should go to bed." Zuko said leading her away from the balcony.

"Zuko..." Katara said causing him to stop walking. She looked deep into his eys for a moment and then smiled. "I'm glad I chose you... Thank you." she said kissing him lightly. Zuko smirked.

"I'm glad too, but you're tired, you really should sleep." He replied brushing hair from her face gently. Katara yawned again.

"I don't know why I'm so tired, Kenai and I slept so much today. I'm surprised he isn't awake already." She said climbing into bed.

"That is strange." Zuko said changing into his nightwear. "I wonder if he..." He turned to face Katara but she was already sound asleep.

***

"Momma, Dad..." a small voice called out. Katara stirred and woke up to find Kenai standing at the edge of their bed rubbing his eyes. Judging by the black starlit sky, Katara decided that it was probably midnight or very very early morning. "I had a bad dream." Kenai mumbled.

"Come on..." Katara said smiling affectionately at her son. Kenai clumsily climbed onto the bed and snuggled into Katara's arms. Zuko was still fast asleep and completely oblivious to what was going on. Katara and Kenai lay down and slowly waited for daylight to come.

"Kenai, if you keep on fidgeting you'll wake your Dad and probably kick me off the bed." Katara said wrapping her arms around him. For a moment the fidgeting stopped, then suddenly... "Kenai!!" Katara said, playfully rolling around with him. "Let's see how yow you like it." She joked. Due to the sudden movement and high pitched laughter of their son, Zuko woke up slightly confused.

"What's going on?" he asked sleepily.

"Kenai decided to join....WOAH!!"

Suddenly, Katara was falling. "I must have been closer to the edge than I thought" she thought to herself but strangely, even though quite a long period of time had passed, she was still falling. "Why am I still falling? Why wasn't Zuko helping me? Where was Kenai? He was in her arms a minute ago." Her surroundings became darker and darker until eventually, they were pitch black. No longer could she see the deep red's and gold's that decorated her room. She was now in total darkness....

CRASH!!!

"Ow!" Katara said rubbing her head. She had fallen out of bed onto the floor. "Ow!" she repeated slowly getting up. For some reason getting upright was a lot easier than it should have been for someone so heavily pregnant. She felt her stomach quickly, but rather than the round bulge she had grown use to her stomach was surprisingly flat. "I'm not pregnant anymore." She thought to herself. Still in complete darkness, Katara was slightly disorientated. She couldn't seem to collect her thoughts coherently and with this new finding, had trouble thinking clearly.

"Katara are you all right?"

That voice... Suddenly it was all so very clear. No longer was she confused.

"I 'm..errr...fine." she replied slowly standing up. "I just fell."

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"No!" Katara answered almost too eagerly. "No." She repeated in a softer tone getting back into bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, it's alright, I'm fine really. You should go back to sleep, you have a big day tomorrow." Katara replied feigning enthusiasm.

"I guess, well, if you want to talk about it I'm right here."

"Thanks." Ktara said smiling softly, similarly to the way a parent smiles when comforted by their child.

"Well, goodnight."

Katara turned to her side and faced the diming lamp in the corner of the room. So this was what it meant, the emptiness. She watched the flame dance wildly.

"No not a bad dream" she thought to herself before quietly whispering...

"Goodnight, Aang..."

*********

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**My writers block is no more....but surprise surprise I'm not happy with how this turned out! *sigh***

**Ah well, onto the story...**

**I LOVE KENAI!!!! I finally have an OC! He's soooo cute! But how did I come up with the name I hear you ask... Well you all know how crazy my mind is and so when think of Zutara I thought of Zuko (as you do) and who plays Zuko...Dante Basco and then I thought BASCO!!! That's the Earth King's bear's name and you know what else has bears in it..... Brother Bear! And what is the main character's name ... Kenai who also got the bear totem of love which is what Zutara is all about!! Get it!!!! Good!**

**I love Kenai...did I say that already!! Hehe! I also love the fact that Katara thinks that Kenai gets his stubbornness for Zuko... Oh Katara, its all you!!**

**And Zuko's bad jokes....**

**So did you realise that it was all a dream before Katara did???? I'm evil aren't I! I give you all this lovely Zutara fluffy goodness and then take it away at the end!!!**

**Don't ya lurve me!**

**Anyways... Hope you all enjoy it**


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